Walking a tightrope

LAHORE: The state of Pakistan is walking a tightrope. There are signs of hope in many fields, while there is despair in the industrial sector, where hundreds of textile mills have closed and the auto sector has nosedived.

The question is, will the positive vibes deliver or not. We have created a lot of hopes on many fronts. There was a recent electronic media report that claimed that Thar coal can be gasified to produce gas for the country for over a hundred years.

If that happens, there would be no need to import costly LNG. But this report is similar to the hype created during the PTI regime that offshore oil drilling near Karachi would make Pakistan an exporter of crude oil. Such tall claims often fall flat when it is time to talk realistically or to deliver.

Then there are reports circling through official sources that Saudi Arabia would commission a cracker plant in Gwadar with an investment of $10 billion. The news is now six months old, but no progress has been seen in this regard. Naptha plant if commissioned would solve the problem of many industrial raw materials that we currently import.

People are talking about investments worth billions of dollars from Qatar and UAE, but it is all in air. Nothing concrete has come out in this regard. In fact, the claims of potential investments for Middle East countries come from Pakistani circles only. Prospective investors have not even hinted about these investments.

The investment in corporate agriculture was also touted from official circles. Any such investment is yet to materialise on cultivable land. Investments are needed to build infrastructure, to commission drip irrigation equipment, to level the land with laser levellers and to procure tractors, harvesters and seed planters to cultivate crops on large areas.

No corporate foreign investor has yet come forward who could invest $3-4 billion on corporate farming. Then there is a lull in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). At least no tangible progress has been reported in this regard.

The proposed Chinese investment in economic zones around the CPEC route has been made. Transport of goods through this route from Gwadar has not really started. Alternate routes to CPEC are being planned by our adversaries, but CPEC is by far the most economic trade route not only for China but for the Central Asian States as well.

All the above positive developments that have not practically been implemented could be a game changer for the economy of Pakistan. The coal gas if a reality would revive all our industries and it would save billions of dollars in foreign exchange.

Naptha cracker plant will make Pakistan self-sufficient in chemicals and plastics and many other raw materials. The foreign exchange savings would be enormous. Corporate agriculture could make Pakistan a net exporter of grains and poultry meat. It will bring new agro technology in the country and help existing small farmers to improve productivity. We may as well become self-sufficient in edible oil, which is the second highest import item of Pakistan after crude oil. These ideas must convert into reality. Any progress, work or negotiations happening on these fronts must be owned by the governments that follow.